My recent blog post "Trans* Invisibility" lamented the ways in which trans* identities are often erased, both at the interpersonal level and in the media. Erasure of trans* identities is symptomatic of societal attitudes that often value individuality over community. This attitude often leads to fragmentation and isolation...

In order to illustrate transgender invisibility and the pain that can accompany coming out, I told the following story to participants in a meeting of an international advocacy group for LGBTQIA people.

My wife and I were visiting with a cisgender heterosexual couple, and our conversation began to focus on...

The 14th international Transgender Day of Remembrance has come to a close in Winona, Minn. It was a privilege to participate in the vigil at Winona State University, and again the next day at Hamline University in St. Paul. Now, safe in the quiet of my cozy home, I'm reflecting...

My wife and I met one another as seventh graders in 1957 and began "going steady" the summer before our senior year. In 1966 we were married in a traditional ceremony that my dad conducted as pastor of our church. In our vows we promised "to have and to hold...

On July 8, TransLutherans was announced as a new affinity group in ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation at our assembly in Washington, D.C. Thanks to the board for approving the formation of this group at its 2012 spring meeting in Minneapolis. TransLutherans has been a long time in the making....

Jan. 21, 2011, was a bitterly cold night, and the snow was crunchy under our feet as 300 members of our community walked in silent candlelight through the outskirts of downtown Minneapolis. Our destination was the steps of the apartment building where Krissy Bates, a transgender woman, lived and died...